10 NFL teams with the most expensive tickets

Winning football teams attract more fans and drive up ticket prices. Teams that make this list, including the New England Patriots, the Green Bay Packers and the Baltimore Ravens, are playoff contenders nearly every year. Of the 10 most recent Super Bowl champions, only one is not on this list of teams with the most expensive tickets.

To identify the NFL teams with the most expensive tickets, event ticket search engine SeatGeek provided 24/7 Wall St. with the current average secondary-market ticket prices for each team for the 2013 NFL season. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed team record and attendance data from ESPN. We also reviewed city cost of living data as of the first quarter of 2013 from the Council for Community and Economic Research. All ticket prices listed are secondary-market ticket averages, provided by SeatGeek. These are the NFL teams with the most expensive tickets.

Reuters

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10. Dallas Cowboys

Average ticket price: $209.20

Stadium: AT&T Stadium

Super Bowls in last 10 years: 0

Average home attendance (2012): 88,531 (the highest)

Unlike most of the teams with the most expensive tickets in 2013, the Cowboys’ record over the past few years has been relatively poor. The team has only made it to the playoffs four times in the past 13 years, and most of those were disappointing first-round exits. Possibly because of that performance, the team is the only one on this list of 10 with ticket prices that have decreased since 2011, from $227.53 on average to $209.20 for 2013. Still, the Cowboys have one of the most dedicated fan bases in the NFL. The average home game since the new AT&T Stadium was completed in 2009 has exceeded stadium capacity each year. At left, Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray tries to stay on his feet after being hit by New York Giants safety Antrel Rolle in the first half of their game in Arlington, Texas on Sept. 8.

Reuters

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9. Baltimore Ravens

Average ticket price: $220.30

Stadium: M&T Bank Stadium

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 1

Average home attendance (2012): 71,278 (9th highest)

It should not be too surprising that last year’s Super Bowl champions have among the most expensive secondary-market tickets in football this year. In fact, fans are paying even more than they did the past two years. In 2011, a ticket to a Ravens football game cost about $177. Since then, the average cost of home game tickets has increased by 24.3%. M&T Bank Stadium, which was completed in 1998 for about $220 million, sells out on a regular basis, filling its more than 70,000 seats. At left, a Baltimore Ravens fan watches his team play against the Cleveland Browns in Baltimore Sept. 15.

Seattle Municipal Archives/Wikipedia

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8. Seattle Seahawks

Average ticket price: $220.64

Stadium: CenturyLink Field

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 0

Average home attendance (2012): 67,946 (17th highest)

After multiple successful seasons and a Super Bowl appearance under quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, the Seahawks went through a period in which they made the postseason only once in four years. In 2012, after missing the playoffs the previous season, the Seahawks started Russell Wilson, the recently drafted quarterback. Wilson led them to their most successful season since the 2005 Super Bowl run. The team is considered by many experts to be Super Bowl favorites this year. As the team has improved and the future looks brighter, ticket sales have skyrocketed, with the average 2013 home game going for $220, compared with just an average of $93 in 2011. Recently, an overcapacity crowd at the famously loud CenturyLink Field, at left, set a world record for crowd volume.

Reuters

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7. Pittsburgh Steelers

Average ticket price: $221.06

Stadium: Soldier Field

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 2

Average home attendance (2012): 61,141 (25th highest)

One of the most successful teams of the 2000s, the Steelers appeared in three Super Bowls, winning two of them. Since 2003, the team has had a record of .500 or better. However, the team has missed the playoffs in the past two years. Perhaps in part because of this recent performance, the average ticket price for the Steelers has only risen by 7.8% between 2011 and 2013, compared with the average NFL team’s tickets increasing by more than 16%. The Steelers also averaged in the bottom half of the NFL last year for meeting stadium capacity. At left, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger throws during warm-ups before the start of a game.

Reuters

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6. New Orleans Saints

Average ticket price: $225.30

Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Superdome

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 1

Average home attendance (2012): 72,888 (7th highest)

The New Orleans Saints were embroiled in a controversy last year when the NFL found the team operated a bounty system that paid defense players to injure members of the opposing team. Head Coach Sean Payton and several other staff members were banned from playing in the NFL last season. That year, ticket prices took a dip, falling from the seventh most expensive on average to the 11th most expensive. Even with the blow to their PR, the Saints are still one of the most popular teams in football. And with Payton and the rest of the 2008 Super Bowl winning staff back, 2013 tickets to games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome rose to average sixth highest in the NFL. At left, a Saints fan celebrates outside the Superdome.

Reuters

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5. Denver Broncos

Average ticket price: $237.26

Stadium: Sports Authority Field

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 0

Average home attendance (2012): 76,632 (5th highest)

The Denver Broncos have been one of the most popular teams in football for years. The team’s quarterback is Peyton Manning, who, in his second season with the team, set an NFL record of seven touchdowns in the Denver home opener. According to SeatGeek estimates, three of the 10 most expensive tickets for the 2013 season will be for games against the Broncos, although none of those will be at Sports Authority Field, the team’s stadium. Broncos’ home game ticket prices have increased by more than 50% since 2011, the third highest price spike in the NFL. At left, Denver’s Andre Caldwell (12) celebrates a third-quarter touchdown pass against the Baltimore Ravens Sept. 5.

Reuters

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4. Green Bay Packers

Average ticket price: $245.40

Stadium: Lambeau Field

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 1

Average home attendance (2012): 70,507 (10th highest)

Counting pre-Super Bowl professional football, the Green Bay Packers have won more world championships than any other NFL team, including four Super Bowls. In 2008, Aaron Rodgers replaced longtime franchise quarterback Brett Favre. Some wondered if Rodgers could fill Favre’s shoes, but he responded with four straight seasons of 10 wins or more and a Super Bowl win in 2011. In April, Rodgers signed a five-year, $110 million deal, giving him the highest annual pay in the league. The average ticket price for a Packers game has increased by about 10% since 2011, a small increase compared with the other teams on this list. At left, Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb celebrates his touch down against the Washington Redskins Sept. 15.

Reuters

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3. New England Patriots

Average ticket price: $277.96

Stadium: Gillette Stadium

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 2

Average home attendance (2012): 68,755 (15th highest)

The Patriots will play the Broncos at their Gillette Stadium at the end of November for what will be the most expensive football game for fans to attend this year, with the average secondary-market ticket going for $390.45. The New England team’s home stadium, which it has consistently filled since it was built in 2002, has a capacity of about 70,000. Under quarterback Tom Brady and highly respected coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots have played in the Super Bowl five times since 2001. According to Forbes, the franchise is worth about $1.8 billion, second most in the NFL. At left, Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman enters the end zone for a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills Sept. 8.

Reuters

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2. Chicago Bears

Average ticket price: $282.16

Stadium: Soldier Field

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 0

Average home attendance (2012): 62,329 (23rd highest)

Two of the 10 most expensive games scheduled this year for attendees include games of the Bears against Dallas and New York this fall. The average secondary-market ticket price for both games—to be played at the Bears’ home stadium Soldier Field—is more than $300. The stadium, which underwent extensive renovations in 2003, seats more than 60,000 people and regularly sells out. The Bears’ head coach since 2004, Lovie Smith, was fired at the end of December last year. He was replaced by Marc Trestman, who so far this season has shown competence, winning their first two games. At left, a Bears fan cheers before a game against Cincinnati Sept. 8.

1. New York Giants

Average ticket price: $292.36

Stadium: MetLife Stadium

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 2

Average home attendance (2012): 80,495 (2nd highest)

The New York Giants have had the most expensive home game tickets the past two years. The Giants have won four Super Bowls, two of them in the past six years with Eli Manning as quarterback, when they defeated the Patriots in both 2007 and in 2011. The new MetLife Stadium, located in New Jersey and the home of both the Giants and the Jets, routinely meets its 80,000 person capacity in ticket sales. The NFL scheduled Super Bowl XLVIII to be played in February, 2014, at MetLife Stadium. Tickets for the recent game against the Broncos cost $378.02 on average, the second most expensive game for fans to attend that is scheduled this year. At left, Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz scores a touchdown as he is defended by Dallas Cowboys corner back Orlando Scandrick in Arlington, Texas Sept. 8.

Reuters

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1. New York Giants

Average ticket price: $292.36

Stadium: MetLife Stadium

Super Bowls in past 10 years: 2

Average home attendance (2012): 80,495 (2nd highest)

The New York Giants have had the most expensive home game tickets the past two years. The Giants have won four Super Bowls, two of them in the past six years with Eli Manning as quarterback, when they defeated the Patriots in both 2007 and in 2011. The new MetLife Stadium, located in New Jersey and the home of both the Giants and the Jets, routinely meets its 80,000 person capacity in ticket sales. The NFL scheduled Super Bowl XLVIII to be played in February, 2014, at MetLife Stadium. Tickets for the recent game against the Broncos cost $378.02 on average, the second most expensive game for fans to attend that is scheduled this year. At left, Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz scores a touchdown as he is defended by Dallas Cowboys corner back Orlando Scandrick in Arlington, Texas Sept. 8.

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